Activities to Try at Home Here are a selection of ideas and activities split into the different Areas of Learning that you can try at home. These activities are designed to teach and consolidate the skills that your child is learning in reception.
Communication and Language • Read a range of books together, including non-fiction. Encourage your child to be curious and ask questions about things they want to find out more about or do not understand. You could pause at certain points in the book to check your child understands what has been read. • Look back through photos and talk about previous experiences you have had together. Model how to speak in full sentences and use past tense language correctly. You could also talk about what you would like to do together in the future, to practise using future tense language. • Encourage lots of talk at home by holding conversations. Start a conversation on a topic that interests your child, or pose an open-ended question, such as, ‘What do you look forward to when you wake up?’ Try to keep the conversation going through several back-and-forth exchanges, but try not answer each time with another question, make comments in response too. • Try and use new words throughout the day to expand your child’s vocabulary. You could swap a word for another. For example, instead of saying ‘it is a bright colour’, you could say ‘it is a very vivid colour’. You could also repeat sentences back to your child and add in extra descriptive words. For example, if your child says ‘I like apples,’ you could say, ‘Yes, I like juicy, ripe apples too’. • To also support language, model correct sentence structure and words to your child – instead of overcorrecting them. You can repeat words or sentences back to them in a natural way. For example, if your child says ‘I buyed a banana’ say ‘Yes, you bought a banana.’ • At bedtime, instead of reading a story, you could read some child-friendly poems. Encourage your child to discuss what they think the poem is about and talk about new words and their meaning.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development • Discuss different feelings and try acting out various emotions for your child to identify. Also, recognise and talk about the feelings characters may be experiencing in the stories that you read together. • Develop your child’s confidence and independence by going to an unfamiliar park or soft play centre. Encourage them to try out new equipment they have not been on before. • Using building bricks, try and create the tallest tower that you can together. If the tower falls, try again to rebuild it, sharing ideas on how you could work together to make it better. • Plan some snacks or meals together and discuss the importance of healthy food choices and a balanced diet. • Encourage your child to get themselves dressed on their own. Start by giving them a little bit of help with things, such as their top button or start off zips, until they can do this independently. • Try playing some simple board or card games together to practise taking turns and waiting patiently for the next go. Additionally, use it as an opportunity to talk about rules and why these are important to follow when playing a game. • Encourage your child to talk about their friends and build relationships with others. You could arrange opportunities to invite friends or family members round or meet up and play in an outside space together.
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